A pair of Swedish directors, Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein, have been confirmed as the directors of Underworld 4, which will see Kate Beckinsale return to the role of the Lycan-hunting vampire Selene for the first time since playing the character in Underworld: Evolution in 2006.
Beckinsale gave way to Rhona Mitra who played Sonja, the female heroine of the lackluster 2009 prequel story, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.
Underworld 4 is already set for a January 20, 2012 release with production expected to begin in Vancouver in March 2011. Current expectation for the story penned by John Hlavin and polished by J. Michael Straczynski, is that it will serve as a prequel to 2003’s Underworld and a sequel to 2009’s Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.
As for Marlingd and Stein, they co-directed the Julianne Moore and Jonathan Rhys Meyers thriller Shelter, which was picked up by the Weinstein Co. for distribution, which means we will probably see a direct-to-DVD release sometime next year.
